Re:Private meaning of icons and grammatical context
Marja wrote:
If every designer starts to create their own iconic languages I
would think that it would be confusing. But correct me if I'm wrong.
I definitely think this is wrong.
It really does depend on a context.
In the main in my experience any symbol language requires the user and
mediator to interpret it in the authoring phase.
colors may need to be changed, or one may need to select the exact icon to
represent a particular word as in chair, their is a platonic ideal, but
whilst h will serve a more practiced attempt may confuse if not
representative. equally almost any drawing is better than none. Bliss and
others will always miss personal nuance that contains valuable information.
None the less adapting pages so that thay can be translated into symbolic
language is a very important first step.
Verbs and icons with private or learnt meanings are a different topic. When
referrring to toolbars the icons have very little grammatical support so
their interpretation is blocked to all.
However in a memorable piece of poetry, almost any relevant graphic will aid
memory.
It is a well known practice of memory masters to use nonsensical
associations to aid recall of number sequences.
Proper names can usually be associated graphically and indeed the Chinese
already have this problem to deal with.
One of my students is Earl, so the miracle of science(Widget) produces a
picture of an ear.
This may seem nonsensical, however with repetition it is more readily
memorised by the clients than an apparently random letter sequence.
The rules of English pronounciation being somewhat complex, and a little
more so in the UK.
Best wishes
jay@peepo.com
special needs teacher
web accessibility consultant